SWG Survay: wine for digital natives

Gen Z and Millennials love wine but claim more information to better orient themselves and choose quality and terroir. Attention to the territory, trust in experts' advice and search for quality wine: SWG research commissioned by Carrefour tells us about the purchase and consumption choices of the new generations.

On the occasion of the Milan Wine Week 2022, Carrefour Italia - Main Sponsor of the event- has commissioned SWG* a research aimed at investigating the wine purchase and consumption choices of different generations, with a focus on Millenials and Gen Z. An increasingly aware target that wants to know more about the world of wine, often perceived as exclusive and elitist. 

The SWG survey reveals that young people particularly appreciate wine, which is unrivaled for Millenials (88 percent) and, among spirits, is second only to beer for Gen Z (60 percent). However, both generations - 40 percent of Millenials and 44 percent of Gen Z - say they are not particularly informed and turn to large-scale retail outlets for wine purchases (69 percent of Gen Z and 71 percent of Millenials).

Wine maintains its prestige even among the very young, confirming that it is much more than just a drink: over 80% of Millenials and Generation Z consider it an Italian excellence and 87% emphasize how it encapsulates history, culture and tradition. This means that, when it comes to wine, as many as 60% of Gen Z and 67% of Millenials are more interested in consuming it with awareness and buying it by paying attention - first and foremost - to organoleptic characteristics, the link with the territory where it is produced and the tradition it embodies. Among the different drivers of choice, aesthetics and bottle notoriety hold the last position.

The growing attention of young people to the world of wine is confirmed by the active search for information during the buying experience. While most young people choose the supermarket, 37 percent of Gen Z and 53 percent of Millennials buy directly from wine producers. But what is most surprising for Gen Z, considering that we are talking about the so-called "digital natives," is the figure for online: only 18%, in fact, buy wine on the Internet.

Decisive in purchasing habits is the presence of an expert who knows how to tell the characteristics of different wines and recommend the bottle best suited to their needs. A service that 73% of young people look for and do not find in supermarkets, where they also find a lack of wines produced by artisanal wineries and small producers (51%) and typical wines at km 0 (50%). A figure that, on the surface, might be surprising but, in reality, perfectly, in line with the growing attention to conscious consumption of the new generations: in fact, 20% declare that they prefer to deal directly with sellers and receive advice, for a real buying experience.

*Methodological note: The research was conducted from September 20 to 27, 2022 through a CAWI survey of a nationally representative sample of 1,000 subjects who were wine consumers of age.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)